How to quit your job

It is the beginning of a new year and you may want to change a few things:

Lose weight

Get fit

Travel to the Amazon in a canoe

Find a new job

Resign

While the first four may take a bit of effort, resigning needn’t be so hard.

We put together a short guide that will help to keep things professional if you are going to change jobs.

If you are going to work for another company make sure you have a signed job offer letter and a start date from your new employer in hand, a verbal offer is not good enough.

Review your employer contract to ensure that you know what your legal obligations and limitations are when you resign. Things to consider are notice periods, leave policy, non-compete clauses and your eligibility to receive a bonus/commission in a notice period.

Before you hand in your resignation letter, clean up your files and emails, personal items in your lockers or samples of your work that you may want to keep. Your employer can ask you to leave the premises before your notice period is up, so it is better to be prepared.

Write a resignation letter that states clearly that you are resigning, the active start date of your resignation period and your last day of employment.

In your letter:

Remember to thank your employer for the opportunity and the experience that you received. Depending on your circumstances you can go into details or just keep it short and civil.

Offer to help with the handover process but don’t promise anything you can’t deliver.

Remember, even if you are frustrated with your current manager to keep things professional and polite. It is never a good idea to burn your bridges. A good reference from your employer can be valuable in future and hurling accusations may come back to bite you later.

Aim to end as you started. Don’t slack off and become unproductive after you have given notice, leave with your most valuable assets – your dignity and your professional reputation.

It is a good idea to update your LinkedIn and Facebook connections with your colleagues and bosses to maintain your professional network. People change jobs and move to other locations, and social media channels make it easy to stay in touch.

On your last day at the office, take the opportunity to send a formal goodbye email to your colleagues. Let them know where you are moving to and if you want, you can include a personal email address and phone number where people can reach you to stay in touch.